Leaving Italy...On To Korea

Tomorrow morning I catch a flight into Munich to meet up with Lana on our way to the USA for my sister's wedding and Christmas. I'm officially finished here at Aviano having completed my final outprocessing paperwork about an hour ago. We're both excited at what the future holds and look forward to flying and traveling around eastern Asia over the next year.

Last Wednesday I had what fighter squadrons call a fini flight. It's the last flight a pilot has in the squadron before moving on to another. I was scheduled for an ACM fini, but due to weather we had a flex to something different. It was strange stepping to the jet and flying what I knew would be my last fight with the Buzzards...the time has flown by, literally! After the flight my squadron mates taped me up and sprayed me down with a bunch of water in standard fighter pilot tradition. I came away with only a couple scrapes from the wrestling match which took place just prior, which is more than a couple of my attackers could say.

Another fighter squadron tradition is to put a pilot's name on a jet canopy along with the dedicated crew chief's (maintenance chief) name. My name was put on tail 443, and just today did I get out to the flight line to get a quick picture before leaving. Many ask if it's the jet I always fly, and the answer is no; we fly whichever jets maintenance has ready for us.

Well, the plan tonight is to get a quick workout in and then enjoy a nice Italian meal one last time before leaving. I'm not sure how Korean food is, but I'm pretty sure I won't enjoy it as much as the local Italian pasta and pizza. I'll be to Korea in early Jan ready to start the next phase in my Air Force career with the 35th Fighter Squadron Pantons! Push it up!